The North American nuclear medicine market is expected to reach USD 2.98 Billion in 2020 from USD 1.97 Billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 8.6%. . Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs that contain radionuclide-emitting ionizing radiation, used in the nuclear imaging field to diagnose and treat various diseases. The North American nuclear medicine market is segmented on the basis of types, applications, and countries.

The radiopharmaceuticals market, by type is broadly classified into two segments, namely, diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopes. Radioisotopes in the diagnostic market are further categorized as SPECT and PET; while the therapeutic market is classified into beta emitters, brachytherapy isotopes, and alpha emitters. In 2015, the diagnostic segment is expected to account for the largest share of the North American nuclear medicine market, with the SPECT segment likely to account for the largest share of the diagnostic market. While, beta emitters is expected to account for the largest share of the therapeutic market in 2015.

The North American radiopharmaceuticals market, based on application is segmented into SPECT, PET, and therapeutic applications. The SPECT applications is further segmented into Cardiology, Lymphoma

Thyroid, Neurology, and other SPECT applications, while the PET application is segmented into Oncology, Cardiology, Neurology, and other PET applications. The therapeutic application is classified into Thyroid, Bone Metastasis, Lymphoma, Endocrine Tumors, and other therapeutic applications. In 2015, the cardiology application is expected to account for the largest share of North American radiopharmaceuticals market for SPECT applications. The PET market is likely to be dominated by oncology applications and the therapeutic market is likely to be dominated by thyroid applications.

Factors such as increasing preference for SPECT and PET scans, alpha radioimmunotherapy-based targeted cancer treatment, advances in radiotracers, growing incidence of cancer and CVDs, and rising awareness about the effective use of radiopharmaceuticals in various applications are driving the growth of this market. However, factors such as requirement of high capital investments to limit the procurement of scanners, shorter half-life of radiopharmaceuticals, stringent regulatory guidelines and GMPs, and competition from conventional diagnostic procedures are hindering the growth of this market. Moreover, upcoming radioisotopes, alternative diagnostic radiopharmaceutical solutions, cyclotron-based production, and use of radiopharmaceuticals in neurological applications provide a good opportunity for North American radiopharmaceuticals market. A major challenge to the growth of North American radiopharmaceuticals market is the shutdown of nuclear reactors which is likely to create a gap in the demand and supply of radioisotopes.

On the basis of countries, the North American nuclear medicine market is categorized into U.S., and Canada.

In 2015, U.S. is poised to account for the largest share of the North American nuclear medicine market, followed by Canada. The U.S. market is slated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The major factors driving market growth in U.S. include the focus on domestic production of Mo-99, the approval of new radiopharmaceuticals by the FDA in the U.S., FDA approval for alpha emitter, growing focus on therapeutic nuclear medicine as an alternative treatment in oncology, and growing incidence of thyroid cancer.